Elements of this invention were disclosed in Document Disclosure No. 405705 filed Sep. 30, 1996, in connection with the Document Disclosure program.
1. Technical Field
The apparatus and method of the present invention relate generally to the automatic recording of telephone call details. More specifically, they relate to an apparatus and method of providing an automatic printout of call data including parameters such as the date, time, and duration of a call, number dialed (outgoing calls), calling number (incoming calls) and, optional account number enabling the identification of call (i.e. business/personal). Each call comprises a xe2x80x9crecordxe2x80x9d, each record having call data or parameters associated therewith. The apparatus is envisioned to be of primary use in the home or small business but may be used anywhere access to the telephone line is available.
With the increasing popularity of home offices, there is an increasing use of the home phone for business. It is important for home workers to properly document their phone usage for accounting purposes. This is especially true concerning outgoing, long distance, business calls, where an expense deduction may be in order, and with respect to both incoming and outgoing when the individual bills for time spent on the phone, e.g. lawyers etc.
As mentioned, many of these home workers utilize their home telephone for business. Even in those cases where a separate number is used for business, this is frequently done on a single line, using what the telephone company calls xe2x80x9cdistinctive ringing.xe2x80x9d This refers to the feature where calls coming into the residence on the different numbers will ring differently, even though it is the same physical line. Thus, this feature allows the listener to distinguish incoming business calls from incoming personal callsxe2x80x94based on the type of the ring. Presently, up to four alternate numbers/ringing patterns can be utilized on a single phone line.
As mentioned, one significant limitation to this technique is that only one physical phone line is used. All outgoing long distance phone calls are billed to the primary number. Thus, the telephone bill provides no means of distinguishing between business and personal long distance calls. Heretofore, it was common for the worker to account for each call using pencil and paper to record the date, time, and number called with respect to the business calls, so that business calls could be reconciled later with the telephone bill. Clearly this is a time consuming annoyance. Even more important, the misidentification of a call may result in lost billing opportunities or expense deductions.
The present invention is designed to automatically monitor the telephone line and to record and printout various call parameters in order to automate this call tracking or identification function. In the preferred embodiments, these printouts may be accomplished either in xe2x80x9creal timexe2x80x9d as the call is terminated, and upon user command at some later time. For outgoing calls, the preferred call record would include call start and end times, the number dialed and the duration. For incoming calls, the start and end time, and duration of the call are recorded and printed. It may also identify the xe2x80x9clinexe2x80x9d i.e. the number/distinctive ring on which the call came in.
For both the incoming and outgoing calls, the system may keep track of an optional xe2x80x9caccount numberxe2x80x9d which can be used to identify the call with a specific project, client or the like. The account number may be entered anytime during the call, presumably after the conversation is ended, but at any rate, before hanging-up the handset. On outgoing calls, the account number could also be entered immediately after dialing the number but before the called party answers. The account number may be entered on the telephone set just like dialing a number except that a xe2x80x9c*xe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9c#xe2x80x9d would be entered first. In the preferred embodiments, the software is coded to treat the entry of a nonstandard key such as xe2x80x9c*xe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9c#xe2x80x9d as the precursor of the account number.
With respect to the incoming calls, the system may also include a caller identification feature and, the system will record and printout the caller""s identification. This service from the telephone company is commonly referred to as xe2x80x9ccaller ID.xe2x80x9d
As is well understood in the art, the telephone companies have been offering a service referred to as xe2x80x9ccaller IDxe2x80x9d in various parts of the country, since the early 1990s. This service allows subscribers to receive information on incoming calls. Such information comprises the caller""s telephone number and identity.
Finally, the system may include a storage feature wherein call information may be stored for a period of time and then printed out upon demand. Such a storage printout may be formatted to accomplish a specific objective, such as printing out call data organized by account number or the like. In the design of the preferred embodiment, the microcontroller contains internal RAM capable of call record storage. Additional storage capacity may be achieved using external RAM.
A major consideration with respect to the connection of equipment to the telephone lines. Specifically, compliance with FCC regulations, specifically part 68 which requires among other things, good line balance, low insertion loss, and light line loading.
Throughout the specification, the following terms and their definitions will be used. xe2x80x9cParametersxe2x80x9d includes the call data which is gathered, stored and printed for each call. The parameters gathered depend on the nature of the call i.e. incoming or outgoing. A xe2x80x9ccall recordxe2x80x9d is a set of parameters which have been gathered and stored for a call.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The concept of telephone usage monitoring is not new. Several prior art devices have disclosed apparatus for monitoring the telephone line and the recording of various parameters.
One such example is the inventor""s own prior art apparatus designated the xe2x80x9cTEQ1000.xe2x80x9d This apparatus monitored up to ten telephone lines recording such parameters as the time and duration of a call and the number dialed, in the case of outgoing calls. A similar but smaller model xe2x80x9cTEQ 100xe2x80x9d monitored a single line. The apparatus printed out the call parameters at the termination of the call. Additionally, the calls were stored in memory (RAM), permitting the calls to be printed out at a later time, in what was referred to as an xe2x80x9caccounting printoutxe2x80x9d wherein the calls were grouped by an account number. The design of the system permitted a user to enter an xe2x80x9caccount codexe2x80x9d sometime during the course of each call, thereby assigning that call an account code. Later, when the accounting printout was triggered, the system searched through RAM grouping all calls with the same account code. With respect to incoming calls, the only parameters which could be monitored were the time and duration of the call and only if the call were answered. Neither unit provided any means for acquiring and processing xe2x80x9ccaller IDxe2x80x9d data. The user could enter an account code to track the call.
Another, more recent apparatus is disclosed by Hunsicker in U.S. Pat. No. 4,656,657. This apparatus functions in a manner similar to the TEQ100. The time and duration of the calls are monitored as well as the number dialed for outgoing calls. With respect to incoming calls, the Hunsicker apparatus detects the number of rings. The call data is then printed out or displayed. With respect to incoming calls, it appears that a record is printed regardless of whether the call was answered or not. Additionally, both the incoming and outgoing segments of the system utilize a voice detector to ascertain when the call begins.
Consequently, it is a primary objective of the present invention to provide a telephone monitoring apparatus capable of monitoring both incoming as well as outgoing calls.
Another primary objective is to provide a telephone monitoring apparatus wherein various call parameters such as number dialed, start and end times, duration, account numbers, incoming call data and the like, may be printed out.
An additional objective is to build telephone monitoring apparatus wherein the call parameters may be temporarily stored in memory for later grouping and printout according to an assigned account number.
An apparatus and method for automatically monitoring and recording incoming and outgoing telephone call parameters and forming a call record in response thereto, the calls occurring within a telephone system connected at terminal points to telephone sets by telephone lines, the telephone sets utilizing DTMF signaling tones and the telephone lines comprising either of a xe2x80x9coff-hookxe2x80x9d or an xe2x80x9con-hookxe2x80x9d status, the xe2x80x9coff-hookxe2x80x9d status being indicative of a call in progress and the xe2x80x9con-hookxe2x80x9d status representing a standby status wherein calls may be received, the transition from on-hook to off-hook and off-hook to on-hook representing the initiation and termination of a call respectively, the apparatus adapted for connection to the telephone line and comprising: signal conditioning means connected to the telephone line; an outgoing call decoder means having an input connected to the signal conditioning means and an output, the output call decoder means operative to output data responsive to outgoing calls, the output data comprising an output call record; line status detector means having an input connected to the signal conditioning means and an output, the line status detector means operative to output a signal indicative of whether the telephone line is in an off-hook status; incoming call decoder means having an input connected to the signal conditioning means and an output, the incoming call decoder means operative to output an incoming call data signal responsive to an incoming call, the data being used to form an incoming call record; clock means for determining the date, time of day, and duration of the incoming and outgoing calls; and a computation means connected to the incoming and outgoing call decoder means, the clock means, and the line status detector means, the computation means being operative to form incoming and outgoing call records comprising data received therefrom, the incoming call record comprising the incoming call data, the call start and end times, and the call duration, the outgoing call comprising the outgoing call data, the call start and end times, and the call duration, the computation means further comprising means for displaying the records.
A method of automatically tracking telephone usage in order to accurately account for telephone expenses, comprising the steps of: providing an call detail recording apparatus; entering the current date and time using the clock means; monitoring the telephone line for an incoming call indicated by the presence of incoming call data; receiving incoming caller identification data upon detection of the incoming call data; detecting a transition in the telephone line status from the on-hook status to the off-hook status and initiating a reading of the clock means and determining call start time in response thereto; detecting a transition in the telephone line status from the off-hook status to the on-hook status and initiating a reading of the clock means and determining call end time in response thereto; computing a call duration from the call start and end times; forming an input call record comprising the incoming call data, the call start and end times, and the call duration; monitoring the telephone line for an outgoing call indicated by detection of a transition in the telephone line status from the on-hook status to the off-hook status; detecting the transition in the telephone line status from the on-hook status to the off-hook status and initiating a reading of the clock means and determining call start time in response thereto; monitoring the DTMF decoder means for the presence of any data and receiving the DTMF data upon detection thereof; detecting a transition in the telephone line status from the off-hook status to the on-hook status and initiating a reading of the clock means and determining call end time in response thereto; computing a call duration from the call start and end times; forming an outgoing call record comprising the DTMF data, the call start and end times, and the call duration; and displaying the incoming and outgoing call records.